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No way to celebrate your son's 21st - time for an independent inquiry into a death in Garda custody?

The Wheelock family protest outside the Dáil on what should have been Terence's birthday. An extended interview with Laurence Wheelock, brother of Terence Wheelock.

Store Street Garda Station

I remember my 21st birthday. My friends all came out and we hijacked a large corner of a pub in town. There were cards, presents, pints bought and songs sung. That's nearly nine years ago for me. Your 21st is generally seen as a celebration of your arrival into adulthood. In your twenties you grow up more, make new friends, lose others, find more of your independence, switch jobs a few times, make mistakes, learn, maybe travel a bit, fall in love, start a family. This afternoon one Dublin family, the Wheelocks, will be marking the day of their sons' 21st birthday, were he alive, outside the Dáil with a protest.

Terence Wheelock died in September last year after being on a life support machine for three months. He had been in a coma since his arrest and detention on June 2nd in Store Street Garda Station, along with three other people on suspicion of car theft. The Garda Press Office made a statement, claiming that Terence had tied a ligature around his neck, and secured this to a "fixture" which was "counter sunk into the wall". The subsequent renovating of the cell after his death, and the lengths to which the Gardai went to prevent the family from accessing his clothes, has raised many serious and troubling questions about what happened to Terence Wheelock while in custody in Store Street on June 2nd, 2005.

I met up with Terence's brother Laurence in the family home in Summerhill, who told me about what is happening at the Dáil today at 2pm. "The protest is for people from the local and wider community who have an interest and who would empathise with our situation as a family," says Laurence. "Terence would have been 21 today, but he never made it to his 21st birthday. We're asking the Minister for Justice: Why? We'll be doing a birthday card protest. We cant present Terence with a card on his birthday, so instead we're presenting it to the Minister for Justice. In doing this, we're asking him - "Why is it that we cant give this to Terence today?" The card is going to have a key on it, a key to the door for his 21st birthday. People will be handing this in at the gate, in a democratic protest. This will hopefully draw attention to our campaign in a peaceful and dignified way."

"We're also going to outline a few questions to Michael McDowell related to the case, and ask him if he's going to establish an independent inquiry to find out what happened. We have no faith in an internal Garda inquiry, it doesnt answer the questions satisfactorily. McDowell hasnt agreed to meet us tomorrow but I am calling on him to do so. We hope that the Taoiseach will also come out and meet us, he's the representative for this area, so we can at least talk to him about some things we feel are very wrong with the case. Joe Costello is going to be there, he's been doing great work with the family. Joan Collins has also been working with another family [the Moloneys] out in Crumlin, so as I understand it she will be also doing something for this family, such as handing in a petition."

At the last Coroner's Court hearing, agreement was reached between the Wheelock family and the State, regarding independent forensic examination of his clothes. Rather than the clothes being sent to the UK, foreign forensic scientists will be coming to Ireland. "The Garda are saying that Terence committed suicide. So at the time, the Garda had no legal right to hang on to his clothes. They wouldnt give them back to us. They had said they were keeping them because a possible criminal prosecution might come out of it. Now the DPP has decided nothing will happen. That's something that didnt surprise us, we were expecting that. We have had to fight tooth and nail to get Terence's clothes back. We believe that there is some forensic evidence there. They're delaying us, and we belive that the longer that we dont have the clothes, the more likely it is that they are forensically contaminated. Any evidence there will be damaged, comprimised. We asked for them back to we could have them independently examined, but the Garda will not hand them back.

"We said that we didnt have the money needed to bring over experts from England over here, its a very costly business. So the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Justice have said that they will assist us somewhat with the expenses. So now the independent experts will be coming over here. They'll have to do the examinations in Ireland. They wont be able to take the clothes out of Ireland, but they might be able to take a few fibres for further tests. But what I cant understand is how its taken nearly a year for forensic scientists to come over. A lot of questions have arisen over this. I would have preferred to have gotten Terence's clothes from the outset. They had no justification in taking them. We're going back to the Coroner's Court on April 6th to see if there has been any progress with mediation, between our independent experts and the forensic scientists attached to the State."

The Director of Public Prosecutions has decided that no charges will be brought against any Gardai in relation to Terence's death. The Garda Commissioner had appointed Detective Superintendent Oliver Hanley from Dun Laoghaire Garda Station to examine the circumstances surround Terence's death. "The DPP's decision was solely based on Oliver Hanley's investigation," says Laurence. "We have not seen that report. He investigated Terence's death, John Moloney's death, and every death in Garda custody in Dublin over the last 15 years. There was not one case of negligence brought against the State in his findings. We have had no correspondence with him at all - apart from not wanting to hand the medical records over to him. The reason for that is that this is our only form of defence left. We've been obliterated every other way. They've conned us, they've disorientated us, they took his clothes away. We just felt we had to hang on to the medical records. They never contacted us to let us know how the internal investigation was going. This Garda spent 15 years working in Store Street station, so he may as well be investigating his friends. So of course we were not happy with this type of investigation. The only type of inquiry we would be happy with is one completely independent of the State. Not someone like Judge Kevin Haugh as an Ombudsman, because he is still in some way attached to the State. He's still a member of the judiciary.

"As I said, it didnt come as a surprise that they weren't going to charge anyone. What I did find, to the utter disgust to the memory of my brother, is that the Minister for Justice formed his opinion that Terence himself was the sole cause of his own death, on the basis of this DPP report, without having looked at or even considered an outcome of a future inquest. And it took him seven months to form this opinion, to come out and say Terence was responsible for his own death. We are never going to see this report. We have to fight and lobby for everything - politicians, judiciary, district courts, high courts - just to access simple documentation attached to this case. Information that should be afforded to us straight away.

"I dont want to get into a class struggle debate here but I believe if this was a middle class area with someone from an affluent background, an independent inquiry would have been established almost immediately, and the Gardai involved would have been suspended due to an inquiry taking place. They know we're not in a strong financial position, but we'll do whatever it takes. We really just want to know why my brother died. He went in that cell that day, we dont know what happened. But what happened afterwards - there appears to be a concerted cover-up. It took them ten minutes to ring an ambulance for Terence. When the ambulance men came, he wasnt found in his cell - he was out in the hall. The ambulance men say there was no bruising on his body but we dont believe that, we think that's just the Garda's story. We have detailed evidence from photographs to show Terence was bruised - excessively bruised, all over his body. He had a two and a half inch open laceration on his spine. He had a shard of metal embedded above his eye, which we have no idea where this came from. Plus by a doctor's admission he had a major blow to his head. Now Terence was supposed to have been able to hang himself from two and a half feet off the ground. Unless he was on a bunjee rope its hard to see how he could have got those injuries.

"When the Garda came to the door, they told my mam straight away that Terence had hung himself, without asking her to sit down first. They told us that Terence was in James's Hospital knowing full well he was in the Mater. They disorientated my family for an hour, not knowing where Terence was. When we get there, there were two Gardai walking out with Terence's clothes. The cell was renovated even though there was a court order preserving it. The disappearing of the evidence that would either make or break our case. This just added to our paranoia about what might have gone wrong in the cell in Store Street on that day. These problems are issues that would merit an independent inquiry on their own. Evidence like this would ordinarily be very dear to a Garda's heart - if this was a murder inquiry that they were investigating, the evidence wouldnt go missing. The doctoring of custody records; apparently there's no record of an arresting Garda, so Terence shouldnt have been in the station in the first place? But they're not saying that, they're saying he was there. But when you look at the custody records, the arresting Garda names have been scribbled out. So are they saying now there's no arresting Garda? How did he get there? This is a legal document and its been tampered with. These are questions, in my mind, that any normal, civilised, decent society should be asking for an independent inquiry into.

"If nothing comes of the forensic exam, well... we'll have to consider that if it comes. I'd say that the scientists will know if there was any contamination from the outset, any deliberate contamination. At the end of the day, if they do say that Terence committed suicide, then why was there the need to take his clothes? These were personal artefacts that should have been given to the family. There was obviously something they were worried about. They denied that Terence had a t-shirt on him, yet all of a sudden two months later in court it turned up. The clothes went missing, they even denied they had them as well. There was an awful lot of cloak and dagger stuff going on there. We're not out for blame, we're not out for revenge. We just want to know what happened, plain and simple.

"Relations between the youth and the Gardai, not only in this area but many areas in Dublin, have been strained. This is because of the attitude of the Gardai towards the young people today. I cant say exactly what goes through all people's minds with regard to what happened to Terence, but the general consensus out there is that Terence was murdered. Now this is not what we are saying as a family, it is what I hear on the street. They do believe it because they know what the Gardai are capable of. There's people claiming that they're getting broken up every day of the week. I've seen young lads with black eyes and their arms broken that the Gardai have only arrested a couple of hours before. The relationship is strained, not necessarily as a direct result of Terence's death, its always been strained, but I dont think that all this has helped the situation at all. With regard to Father McVerry's comments... my family could not condone the behaviour in O'Connell Street last month. Our marches have always been peaceful and dignified, and will continue to be. We would urge everyone involved in our campaign to remember it is about justice, not revenge.

"The campaign has had great local support. When we marched on Store Street station, around a thousand people came out, despite the torrential rain. We need support from the wider community. We hope that from our campaign, that we can change the law with regards to an ombudsman, where like in the north, someone appointed from outside the State can come in, close down the police station for a day, do all the necessary legal, forensic and technical work, and seize all relevant documentation. At the end of all this we're not out for revenge, we just want justice. We've been so distracted with getting answers to all this... only when the truth emerges can we begin to grieve as a family."

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Good article - interesting to contrast the lack of publicity about this family's quest for justice with the deluge of coverage in the papers over the weekend about the death of the middle-class and very wealthy O'Brien family whos daughter fell overboard while drunk on a cruise and now they're looking for justice.

....unfortuntely, -and I speak as a long time resident of the North Inner City- this case is one of many down through the years in this area, where the Gardai have been a law unto themselves. The first time I heard of a Garda assault was on member of my own family and that was over thirty five years ago. (The guard in question was transferred)
The scale of the assaults by Gardai as mentioned in the article is huge. I know for a fact there is at least one other family that lost one of their members in suspicious circumstances after being arrested and detained in Store Street Gardai station.

A number of years ago there was a 'problem' with 'certain' gardai in Fitzgibbon Street station. After efforts by some local community reps, TD's etc, the response by the the Department of Injustice (the minister) was to transfer the 'rogue' guards to .........Store Street station.....these stations are less than a mile apart!!

I'm not for one minute suggesting that transferring those gardai to the North Pole would have solved the problem.

Minister Michael McDowells reforms are not the answer. As in the case of the north, an independent person, with the power to appoint his or her own independent staff, should be appointed to investigate ALL claims and in ALL garda districts, of gardai assault and mistreatment etc.
There are micarriages of justice out there and lots questions to be answered.
Community policing answerable to the commmunity they are supposed to serve is the way to go.

has the world gone mad. if they wanted to kill him they would have known that their own garda station is not the place. calling an ambulance is also not the actions of people trying to kill someone. if i had been caught stealing and damaging a disabled persons car i would have tried to kill myself out of shame to.

1. Perhaps the claim is not that the Gardai intentionally killed Terence but that it was an extreme occasion of the typical bit of "rough-justice" meated out regularly by Gardai(on the sliding scale starting at a little elbow or clip around the ears and then upwards), that went horribly wrong. Anyway, the Weelock family are not hypotesiing about what happened in the jail cell, the focus is on the air of a coverup evident in the aftermath.

2. In regard of your simple-minded critique of the aftermath...if I was in the Birmingham Six or anybody every "fitted-up" I would not have liked you in my defense consule. Police are humans and not beyond reproach, or failure.

3. In relation to Terences crimes, the Gardai are supposed to be agents of justice, not arbitraitors. If he did something wrong, thats for a public judicial review, not a cell or interview room.

3. In relation to the hanging comment, what an insensitive bastard you are. Don't you realise one of the Weelock family may read this article out of interest?

I can't see how someone could read the particulars of this case and not be extremely suspicious that Terence Wheelock was killed by the Gardai. The person posting above () that suggests that the allegation is that the Gardai deliberately killed Terence Wheelock is misreading the accusation (I don't know if that's deliberate or no, but I have my suspicions), it seems likely that this death is an unintended but predictable consequence of the Gardai breaking the law and torturing prisoners.

It's not the first time and it's not unique to Ireland. The only surprising thing is that none of the Gardai have ever been convicted for it. That's probably because there's no proper independent complaints mechanism. McBrearty was treated badly too and luckily survived to tell the tale, drawing special attention to how the supposed investigators of Garda abuse are all "state lovvies".

Terence Wheelock's family are to be congratulated for trying to find out what happened, for not just accepting the horrible tragedy of his death, I hope they can find the truth and help other people.

I'd like to know a if he was or was not in a stolen car, had he been convicted of similar crimes, what are the people who were arrested with him saying?, did they face charges? Did they see any brutality, were there drugs in his system?. I cant see why the gaurds would try and kill him and then resusitate him and call the ambulance, I understand he lived for 3 months, just cause somene dies in garda custody the conspiricy theorists go into overdrive, take the example of the dwane foster guy who died recently, joe costello practically called for an inquiry for him, look at the money that would have cost, when everyone knew the gaurds hadnt done anything to him, joe costello would have been better if he had looked for the state to compensate the young child left orphaned rather than trying to score political points. many people take their own lives in their own family homes with no gardai near them and families can't come to terms with the fact that they commited sucide.Its eariser sometimes to blame others - theres a saying in medical circles "When you see hoof markes think horses and not zebras".

.....in reply to Pete. I don't know who you are or where you come from....but you sound like one of those people who think the Gardai are incapable of even at least beating up someone. As someone who has felt the brunt of there expert boot and fists etc, I suggest that you read as much as you can between the lines (as well as study the evidence) of any cases and when you've come to a sensible conclusion, then make your comments.

The point is that there is a question to be answered. Either scenario is plausible. It is important to investigate and find out which one is correct. As one scenario indicts the guards, they should not be the ones to do the investigate. Judges in their own cause and all that stuff. As has been pointed out above, we have on this island a world class model of police accountability north of the border. Why not south??

Pete said:
"I'd like to know a if he was or was not in a stolen car, had he been convicted of similar crimes, what are the people who were arrested with him saying?, did they face charges? Did they see any brutality, were there drugs in his system?"

Tell you what Pete - a decent public enquiry would probably answer those questions as well as shedding light on wat happened to terence in that cell and how he died.The Wheelock family aren't saying that he was deliberately murdered, they just want to know exactly what happened and they think that the most likely method of finding that out is a public enquiry.

Even if you think that gardai are angels, or you're sure that Terences death was somehow self inflicted anyone would have to admit that the circumstances are murkey and should be clarified. If the garda are genuinely blamelesss i this then an enquiry would at least ckear the air. A whitewash will haunt them forever.

The Garda disinfected the cell removing all traces of Terence’s presence. That is bizarre if not suspicious would you not think? Hanging oneself from a height of 2 feet certainly raises my eyebrows and if I was in charge of the scene I would certainly ensure the attachment on the wall was preserved so experts could verify the events as stated by the Garda. Were there any photographs of the deceased taken at the time or of the cell? Was the 10 minutes to call the ambulance spent on looking for a camera or a mop and bucket? As to his past history, a number of people have quite correctly pointed out that the Garda are not tasked with summarily convicting and administering punishment, to state otherwise is criminal in itself. Pete, next time you’re talking to your doctor ask him if when you see hoof marks do you hang the blacksmith?

Lot of good points. Problem is most leftists automatically sympathise with the anti-social elements who wreak havoc on the community and who are the ones who end up in the justice system. Good example is Costello's grandstanding on the Foster death. It is nothing more than opportunism, knowing that there are lots of votes in it. Fact is, most decent working class people don't give a fk about the types of people who end up on the wrong side of the law. They made their own bed ...

pete:take the example of the dwane foster guy who died recently, joe costello practically called for an inquiry for him, look at the money that would have cost, when everyone knew the gaurds hadnt done anything to him

The police said themselves that they were going to carry out an investigation as is standard with any death in custody so why not make it indepedent? That what Joe was looking for.

Most lefties do not see white collar and street crime as bad as each other (which they are although latter tends to be more traumatic for victims). When was last time Costello called for indepenendt inquiry into cases of bank fraud or land corruption in the interests of the perpetrator?

these investigations are not carried out in the interest of the perpetrator. they are carried out in all of our interests, to ensure that everyone is treated properly in garda stations. it is also in the interest of honest gardai for these investigations to take place. its not just working class people from the inner city or finglas who end up in these situations, the mcbreartys did also. look at the evidence comming out from a garda which shows that a woman was assauklted by gardai in that case?

what about the 2 middle class women assualted by gardai in grafton street. they had banged on the boot of an unmarked garda car that had almost knocked them down. they were beaten and thrown in the back of a garda van and then dragged out by their hair. they eventually got a large settlement frpom the state.

you might be arrested some day fror a motoring offence or whatever, wouldnt you prefer to know that the gardai werent going to turn on you just because they could?

would you prefer tribunal after tribunal and the state paying out for deranged cops who assualt anyone they take a dislike to?

There was a case about 20 years back now where a lad from Finglas called Sherlock (sorry I cant recall his first name) was beaten to an inch of his death in the Garda station in Finglas. Same lies and accusations as in the Maloney and Wheelock cases were issued. Gardai claming he tripped or some such rubbish.

However, Mr Sherlock survived and got himself a good lawyer and sucessfully sued an Gardai S. to the tune of over Ir£100,000 which was a lot at the time. Unfortunatly, the dirt poor working class boy mostly cant afford access to the best lawyers hence the Gardai continue to get away with their punishment beatings which occassionally go too far and result in the death of the victim as in the current cases.

If Republicans of any shade beat up a working class kid do you think we would hear the end of it? If they beat and killed anyone from Dublin the mainstream media would be screaming for months to say nothing of the rants we would have to put up with from Nazi Mc Dowell. Maybe they should have blamed it on the PIRA, they would have gotten a massive response without doubt.

Well, if you are poor and powerless then you can expect no justice from the establishment when they abuse you. If they cared about democracy and accountability as they lie that they do, then they would have a truely independent inspectorate.

What has amnesty to say about this I wonder? The 26 county state a democracy? Ha ha ha ha......maybe one day in the far distant future. Best of luck to the Wheelocks in their search for the truth, doubt if they will find it though.
S.

The IRA did do similar things in the past, both in the north and the south. Should there be tribunals into IRA killings of drug dealers and other criminals? Bearing in mind that possibly no IRA Volunteer was ever convicted for killing such a person.

"The IRA did do similar things in the past, both in the north and the south. Should there be tribunals into IRA killings of drug dealers and other criminals? Bearing in mind that possibly no IRA Volunteer was ever convicted for killing such a person."

So your saying the Gardai, enactors of the law of the State, are on the same moral par as masked terrorists and thugs.

Fair point.

I had you written off as just another right-wing apologist, but obviously your analysis is more balanced and you take a pretty skeptical view of the Gardai as well as lefties. My apologies for having doubted you.

I can't believe some of the comment I'm reading here. The Wheelcock family are in no way propagating the facts, they are merely stating what they know, what they want to know, and pointing out a few flaws in our system which in case people have forgotten is suppose to be democratic. If somebody close to you died, in circumstances that were either A. Highly unlikely or B. Suspect, you have to ask yourself the question "Would I like to know". Where's the empathy?
On many occassions the Wheelcock family have said, that they did not believe Terence was capable of killing himself. That maybe no basis for an independent inquiry but couple that with the unusual circumstances, discrepencies and displayed dishonesty in this case and I think you will agree that it doesn't quite add up.

terence wheelock is a case that will not go away and deserves not to go away we must remmember how the state is treating ignoring and stonewalling this lads familes in their quest for answers it is a national disgrace.
a large segment of the tabliod press has chosen to ignore the case also because they make money selling crime stories that the gardia give them.
they cant seem to rock the boat over some poor lad from a working class area. so his death in the eyes of the main stream establishment is expendible.
good luck to the familie.

support the wheelock family in their campaign for justice. The family still suffer campaign for harrassment and intimidation from gardai outside their home. well away from the glare of the media. it is truly shocking what they can do in ireland in2006.

They deserve the people of irelands full support in their campaign for truth and justice.l

I understand there will be an important hearing on May 29th in the coroner’s court.
I wish your family the very best. I find the facts of your case extremely upsetting and sad.

I hope you are given some answers that will allow you to grieve as a family and permit some sort of closure.

I feel it must be so hard not to be consumed with bitterness and hate. In this respect I commend you for the dignified and intelligent way you have approached the campaign. I believe the authorities completely underestimated you and that your campaign for justice will find truth.

Your brother’s death tarnishes the Gardaí until the day they apologise.

I have read the article regarding Mr Maloney's death, and it is a damning indictment by the 'state' and the gardai, to be investigating themselves...(even the Independent Garda Ombudsman) is not independent...as we are all led to believe.....some of the points raised in the (original) article, certainly 'caught my attention', (1) related to the garda refusal to hand over clothing to the family (2) having to 'go further afield' for an 'expert (3) the "Coronors (preliminary) report (4) the actual (first) medical opinion of a 'visiting doctor' to the garda station that was offered/given (5) Minister Mc Dowell's 'lack of interest...in the case (6) the 'distrust by the (victims family) of the Gardai, (which is understandable) and a 'refusal by the family to 'give (to whomsoever), any medical records....(7) The Director of Public Prosecutions has decided that no charges will be brought against any Gardai in relation to Terence's death (8) type of inquiry- that is completely independent of the State and Not someone like Judge Kevin Haugh---(I would like to point out at this stage, that a Barrister was recenytly appointed by dermot Aherne, to the Courts of human rights....that same Barrister/judge, in a 'defence' on behalf of a Defendant.....DENIED ALL ALLEGATIONS OF CHILD SEXAUL ABUSE IN IRELANDS INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS AND (CHILDREN THAT WERE ABUSED, SEXUALLY, IN ADULT MENTAL HOSPITALS IN THIS STATE) ....not surprisingly, i can understand the "family's" point of view, they have NO TRUST OF THE IRISH JUDICIARY. (9) the Minister for Justice formed his opinion that Terence himself was the sole cause of his own death..........(THAT'S an admission, that the state failed to protect Terence.......while under arrest, or under state custodial protection....(in all of the suicides of this state) over the years......no reports that i am aware off, would exert, or report, that a 'suicidal person" (intentionally) injures themselves before the 'final act? Indeed, where such self imposed injuries were being inflicted, it would be the usual case, that the person would be restrained from doing so,....which raises this undeniable uncontested question..."why do so, while in garda custody, surrounded by ? how many members of the garda, in the station? (10) .It took them ten minutes to ring an ambulance for Terence. When the ambulance men came, he wasnt found in his cell - he was out in the hall........the reader then writes...(11) "I dont want to get into a class struggle debate here"....with.........."We have to fight and lobby for everything - politicians, judiciary, district courts, high courts - just to access simple documentation attached to this case..................I am afraid to say...........IT IS A CLASS STRUGGLE.....if so many 'walls by the establisment" has met you, in seeking the truth!.........i end off with (12) We have detailed evidence from photographs to show Terence was bruised - excessively bruised, all over his body. He had a two and a half inch open laceration on his spine. He had a shard of metal embedded above his eye, which we have no idea where this came from. Plus by a doctor's admission he had a major blow to his head. Now Terence was supposed to have been able to hang himself from two and a half feet off the ground. Unless he was on a bunjee rope its hard to see how he could have got those injuries. .......................says it all. off course.....when i read about the gardai being 'transferred' to another 'station', it reminds me of members of religious orders 'moved into other institutions....(where abuses of children continued)..unchecked....(is there a connection?) hmmmmmm